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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24226726">Night after</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ramar/pseuds/ramar'>ramar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:15:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,771</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24226726</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ramar/pseuds/ramar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kiba crashes after a battle from an intense dose of food pills. Hinata thinks she can help. </p><p>---</p><p>Gentle Hinata/Kiba oneshot.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata/Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata/Inuzuka Kiba, hinakiba</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Night after</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Wrote this after rewatching Kiba and Naruto's preliminary battle in season 2, where it's explained that Kiba's food pills take a toll on the body and can cause anxiety for some time afterwards. It has been a while since I watched the series or wrote about Naruto, and this stood out to me as someone who has always been a big fan of Kiba.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Kiba turned the lights off and slumped back into the far corner of the room, pulling his knees to his chest again. His headache was pounding. His bedroom was already dark enough, with the cool night air sinking over the village and creeping through his open windows. With the light out, it was only a matter of time before the night descended like a blanket of navy, punctured only by the glistening white semi-circle of the newly waning moon.</p><p class="p1">He whistled feebly to get Akamaru close. Akamaru, too, was shaky; slinking low around the corners of the room, he kept silent as he crept his way to Kiba’s side. Kiba put his hands on his dog’s body, sharing warmth. It was always after battles that both of them needed each other most. Akamaru grew larger every day and now Kiba found it strenuous to wrap his arms fully around the hound’s body. But Akamaru caved, laying his head on Kiba’s knees and letting Kiba lace his fingers around on the other side of his neck. His fur was soft. He smelled like he always did, but cleaner; Hinata and Shino had bathed Akamaru for him while he crashed from the high of his food pills alone in the room he was staying in in the village. They had successfully saved the diplomat from her assassins; it was their first B ranked mission in a while and they were all feeling the bruises, but the assassin was Kiba’s fight to win, and he did it. It was always Kiba’s duty to step up when the battle required brute force, and he was happy to do it. Happy to.</p><p class="p1">Night continued to fall. Were hours passing, or minutes? His stomach felt weak. He hadn’t been able to keep food down for the past few hours. When he sipped water he made sure to lap the smallest amount he could and swirl it around in his mouth until it dissolved, otherwise as soon as it hit his stomach it would be more dry heaving, with his intestines tying themselves into knots.</p><p class="p1">The food pills took their toll on his body every time, but it was the stress they put on his mind at times like these that particularly shook him. He was always a little anxious afterwards, and paranoid, though this time was worse than any he’d ever felt. Hinata had come in twice to care for him and each time he had scrambled to all fours and nearly ripped her throat out with his teeth, thinking she was an enemy.</p><p class="p1">Even now, Kiba’s mind was an aching flurry of dull fear — of what, he didn’t know. His heightened senses picked up each noise and smell for what seemed like miles. In the nearby woods, bats swooped through the nighttime air, crushing the twittering night bugs with deafening smacks. He could hear the cooks at the restaurant a few streets away chortling with each other, smell their fried pork, the dumplings, the steaming vegetables; he heard their grunting as they poured over their fires as if they were standing over his very body. He located the stink of a woman’s perfume in the next building; up the stairs, to the right, the back bedroom. A child was eating an apple just outside; the crunch was so loud Kiba felt like his ear drums were bursting. Downstairs, other guests of the diplomat were being entertained in the dinning room, where he knew Shino was patiently watching over them. Keys jangled. Footsteps pounded up the walkway and into the house. Laughter rang out mercilessly loud as colleagues greeted one another with a joy that pierced him. Bodies burst forth from opening and closing doors, each one sweating with a different scent. </p><p class="p1">He let out a gasp of pain and confusion and held his head. Akamaru whined. The world and all its people, and sounds, and smells and ghosts — it was too much. How did all these people fit in this village? How were there so many people on earth? He craved to smell nothing, to hear nothing, to feel nothing, but even the feeling of his hands on the cold walls, the splintering floors left him angry at even his having a body at all.</p><p class="p1">Akamaru’s ears perked up first at the sound of footsteps approaching. Kiba’s heart skipped a beat, before he recognized the familiar vibrations of Hinata’s tip-toe. The door creaked open and his teammate entered holding a platter with a bowl and some bread. The smell of soup almost made his stomach roll, and Kiba covered his mouth for a second before the urge to vomit passed. Akamaru took it better. When Hinata placed the platter at Kiba’s feet, Akamaru bent down to slurp some of the broth.</p><p class="p1">Hinata sat gently next to Kiba and slowly touched his knee. “Don’t hold your breath,” she whispered. “It makes it worse.” Kiba breathed out, not realizing he had been clenching his jaw the whole time. The muscles in his neck relaxed for the first time in hours.</p><p class="p1">“How’s it…” He couldn’t finish the sentence.</p><p class="p1">“Shino is taking care of everything,” Hinata said, smiling. “He has a perimeter around the building and there have been no signs of other assassins. We got all of them. <em>You</em> got all of them.”</p><p class="p1">Kiba couldn’t take her compliment, though he tried to smile weakly. He could see her eyes scrunch together with her Byakugan. She was assessing his organs again, for the third time that day.</p><p class="p1">“May I?” she asked quietly.</p><p class="p1">With some strain, Kiba nodded and began to struggle to his feet, using Hinata for balance. They walked to the bed together, and Kiba took off his jacket and laid down. To his surprise, his body felt better without the jacket. Panic attacks made Kiba feel like he was freezing, but the coolness of the evening air washed over him like a wave, and he felt a little calmer.</p><p class="p1">Hinata helped him lie down on his back. Then she got to work.</p><p class="p1">“Ugh,” Kiba moaned as she poked and prodded his chakra points. She was gentle enough — always gentle — but the manipulation of chakra was a straining exercise in his condition. Many of his chakra points had been dislocated or damaged in his battle with the assassins, which was often the case as his muscles bulged and grew and changed when he did his beast jutsu. The food pills, which enhanced that growth, usually caused his body to ache like it did for days afterward. Hinata’s healing hands were always willing to help shorten the recovery time.</p><p class="p1">She pressed a thumb into his shoulder and he let out a gasp of shock at the pain.</p><p class="p1">“There,” he heard her murmur. “Let’s get you on your stomach.”</p><p class="p1">He rolled over again. Now on his belly, his head was turned, looking out the window at the night. From here, he could see the tops of a few buildings, and the forest behind the diplomat’s vacation home that stretched into the south. Akamaru climbed onto the bed to curl up at his feet.</p><p class="p1">Hinata massaged his shoulder. She had mastered the art of chakra control in the years since they were kids, and this use of the Byakugan was entirely her own, forged out of necessity for Kiba’s incessant use of performance-enhancing drugs during battle. <em>Is it even worth it to use them anymore?</em> he thought miserably. <em>You’re just forcing others to take care of you. You’re weak without them and you’re weak with them. You’re just weak.</em></p><p class="p1">“This might hurt,” Hinata said, as she pushed with some force against his spine. Kiba let out another groan as she activated several chakra points at once, opening the ones that had been exhausted by the battle and forcing his chakra to flow through. Instantly, his back felt better.</p><p class="p1">“Don’t hold your breath,” Hinata reminded him. “Breathe in and out for me. Breath into your back.”</p><p class="p1">Kiba did as she said. He sucked in the air, which to his surprise now smelled clean, and fresh. The sounds outside had softened too, and the party downstairs seemed to have quieted. As he breathed in and out, in and out, Hinata continued to touch his back here and there, loosening muscles and creating flow. Kiba continued to breathe until the only thing he could hear were her soft hands <em>tap tapping</em> his back.</p><p class="p1">After a minute or so, Hinata sat back. Her work was done.</p><p class="p1">She helped him to roll over again. He grunted until he was in place, and she helped prop him up with pillows. The Byakugan in her eyes faded. He was suddenly incredibly tired.</p><p class="p1">Hinata sat on the bed next to him and encouraged him to eat a little of his soup. With what seemed like great effort, Kiba brought the salt broth to his lips and sloshed some into his mouth. The solid food, the noodles and tofu, were harder to get down. After a few minutes of struggling he set it aside.</p><p class="p1">“Thanks,” he breathed out quietly. Hinata put her hands together in her lap and smiled.</p><p class="p1">“It is nothing,” she said in a small, pleasant voice. Kiba had always liked that voice of hers. It sounded nice. That meant a lot to him.</p><p class="p1">“I mean it,” Kiba said. He didn’t have the strength in his body to say much more. Hinata pushed him back with a gentle hand. She brought the blankets of the bed up to his chest, and smoothed them out over his shoulders with a kindness that almost moved Kiba to tears. What did he do to deserve her? He was a ninja whose specialty was bludgeoning, biting, scratching, slashing, killing. Hers was right here, in this room, a quiet believing, a gentle healing, a calmness that he couldn’t thank her enough for.</p><p class="p1">“Hinata, I—“ He choked on his words. “I’m sorry.”</p><p class="p1">“There’s no need to be,” he heard her whisper slowly. “You are a great ninja. You did everything right. You just need to rest.”</p><p class="p1">This time, Kiba really did tear up. Hinata’s hands came up automatically to wipe the tears away and Kiba could see her clearly. Her eyes, like little moons peering out of the darkness, never left his own. The noises surrounding him had faded into nothing, he could hear only her heartbeat through the night.</p><p class="p1">His body, now relaxed, fell into exhaustion. As his eyes flickered closed, he felt Hinata squeeze his hand. As she leaned in close to him, he could smell only her body, that scent of her, and it was that which finally soothed him into sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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